Tuesday, February 8, 2022 (Court Day #466)

“It’s more fun playing Andrew in his first game.” That was firefighter Matt. It takes me some number of games to warm up. Before then, my opponents have an easier time of it. That’s even with me consciously trying to not make mistakes in my first games! Maybe someday, I can be sharp out of the gate.

I arrived at Skypark at 6:30, after work. Seven courts were full, a decently busy evening, I had to wait for a game to finish for me to get onto a court.

Firefighter Matt and Judy playing Clayton and new guy Sam.

I played my first game with Tim against Matt and Larry. We lost and I have no qualms accepting full responsibility for the loss. Sure, Tim wasn’t perfect . . . but I was far from perfect!

My second game was with Kristen L. and me against Matt (again) and Sharyl. We lost. Again, not my best game.

The Strong Games

I played a series of games of Paul and his friend Matt against me and firefighter Matt.

One game featured what I consider to be my most amazing rally ever. I believe my net play could have qualified for a YouTube highlight. After that rally, my partner Matt said, “I gave them a couple of lollipops.” Even with being at the net with little time to react in a firefight and my opponents hitting down, I managed to get the ball back. There was no time to think, it was all reactions. My partner was impressed and I was, quite honestly, impressed with myself too! This is my dichotomy. I play like crap in early games but then later I can occasionally roll out something that a pro would be proud of.

Firefighter Matt had played earlier in the day and had an early morning coming so he left around 8:30.

Eric

We needed a fourth. Eric and his girlfriend Ann were drilling by themselves. Eric had borrowed one of my paddles since he’d loaned out all of his to newbies tonight. We invited Eric, the stronger of the two, and it became Matt and Paul against Eric and me. Additional fun, challenging games. Eric (who has been playing for a few years now) is a good player, I suspect he came from a tennis background, but he can sometimes be his own worst enemy when he gets tricky with his shots. Rule #1 is always “get the ball over the net”.

When we finished our last game, Matt checked his watch: 9:21. Not enough time to squeeze in a balanced game. Done!

“Matt with the hat” and “tall Paul” posing.

What did I learn?

I’m still having problems with a lack of power when hitting from a low backhand. I need to do the PT exercises that Dan and Casey suggested more often instead of just once or twice a week when I happen to remember.

Arm

Iced. The inside of my elbow is bothering me more than anything else right now.

Wednesday, February 9, 2022 (No Play)

This is a fun video. Watching this makes me realize I need to borrow a ball machine or get a drilling partner.


Number of days on a court: 466
Number of total hours: 2,229

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